Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
expresses its concern about the failure to investigate death threats issued by a
group that calls itself Comando Barneix against authorities, justice operators
and human rights defenders active in connection with court cases involving
serious human rights violations during the Uruguayan dictatorship. The
Commission urges the State to ensure diligent investigations that reflect the
applicable standards.

On February 13, 2019—two years after the threats were issued—a group that
comprised threatened persons and the Luz Ibarburu Observatory publicly
denounced, among other issues, a lack of progress in the investigation
concerning the people responsible for those threats, as well as the
Uruguayan Presidency’s failure to respond to their requests for information
about this case.

In a
press release issued on March 1, 2017, the Commission condemned threats
targeting authorities, justice operators and human rights defenders who were
in any way active in cases involving human rights violations during the
dictatorship. Threats mentioned the suicide of General Pedro Barneix, who
allegedly killed himself as police arrived to arrest him for the alleged
politically motivated murder of Aldo Perrini in 1974. Threats also said that
any further suicides of military officers or prosecutions for crimes
committed during the dictatorship would be countered with three murders of
people mentioned on a list. The list included Uruguay’s current Defense
minister, current and past public prosecutors, lawyers, people with ties to
the Luz Ibarburu Observatory and an Italian researcher who works on this
issue.

The Commission has highlighted the special seriousness of those threats,
considering that they could increase the risk of impunity in cases linked to
human rights violations in Uruguay, as well as undermine the Uruguayan
people’s confidence in State institutions in charge of administering
justice. In this context, the IACHR urges the State to conduct timely,
thorough and diligent investigations of those threats and to establish and
punish their perpetrators and masterminds. Further, the IACHR calls on the
State to immediately take any actions necessary to protect the lives and
integrity of the group of threatened people on the list.

“The State has an obligation to investigate and punish the serious human
rights violations that happened during the Uruguayan dictatorship. The lack
of diligent investigations violates the rights to truth, justice and
reparation,” said Commissioner Antonia Urrejola, IACHR Rapporteur for
Uruguay, who also leads the Commission’s Unit on Memory, Truth, and Justice.
“The absence of such investigations undermines confidence in justice
institutions,” Commissioner Urrejola stressed.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.